High Needs Elementary Education Program - NEIU: Redesigned elementary education program beginning with freshmen, redesign general education. Writing, early field experiences, co-teaching, learning communities, and portfolios. (To save as a Word document use the link above)
Elementary Education Cohort
The Elementary Education (ELED) Cohort working group is comprised of faculty from Northeastern Illinois University’s Teacher Education Department, Chicago Teachers' Center and several Chicago Public Schools.
The ELED Cohort group’s primary objective is to prepare pre-service teacher candidates for work in high need elementary schools. In order to meet this objective, the ELED group: 1. Conducted a forum with personnel from high need schools as a formative evaluation technique for constructing the ELED cohort program; 2. Recruited students to join the ELED cohort; 3. Formed a course design team that inserted “high need” assignments into two cohort classes; 4. Team-taught two cohort classes with teachers from high need Chicago Public Schools; and 5. Provided early, sustained, and incrementally increasing field experiences in high need schools for cohort students.
In an effort to evaluate its work, the ELED group administered questionnaires at the cohort forum. The course design team documented its work by collecting syllabi reflecting course changes that resulted from design or instructor changes. The ELED group also compiled samples of student work from all restructured courses.
The ELED working group’s self-evaluation pointed toward the utility of the initial forum, which provided guidelines for the structure of the cohort program. These guidelines were used to recruit students, design restructured courses, and provide early clinical experiences for cohort students. Moreover, the working group coordinator reported an increased teaching prowess and an increased ability to team-teach as a result of his participation in the working group activities.
The ELED group anticipates restructuring the entire elementary education curriculum to align with the realities of teaching in high need schools. The group will do this by creating sub-teams of the current design team, increasing the percentage of team teaching in ELED courses, and solidifying relationships with elementary schools that place cohort students in clinical experiences.
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